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Article THE LIFE OF MRS. ANNE AYSCOUGH, OR ASKEW. ← Page 2 of 7 →
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The Life Of Mrs. Anne Ayscough, Or Askew.
" that have I shut up in my heart : and thus briefly I end for lack " of learning . ANNE ASKEW . " This free and expressive declaration appears to have been inclosed in the following to the chancellor . " The Lord God , by whom all creatures have their being , bless yon " with the light of his knowled ge . Amen .
- " M y duty to your lordshi p remembered , & c . It mi ght please " you to accept this my bold suit , as the suit of one which upon due " consideration is moved to the same , and hopeth to obtain . My " request to your lordship is only , that it may please , the same to be " a mean for me to the king ' s majesty , that his grace may be cer" tified of these few lines which I have written concerning belief
my ; " ivhich , when it shall be truly conferred with the hard judo-ment " given me for the same , I think his grace shall well perceive me to " be wayed in an uneven pair of balance . But I remit my matter and " cause to Almighty God ,-which rightly judgeth all secrets . And " thus I commend your lordshi p to the governance of him , and fel" lowship of all saints . Amen .
" By-your handmaid , ANNE ASKEW . " Soon after her condemnation the inhuman ministers of that sanguinary monarch removed her from Newgate , for the purpose of extorting from her , by the excruciating pains of the rack , a confession that mi ght tend to criminate some of the ladies of the court , who were more than suspected of favouring the protestant cause . That it inher to have
was . power brought her great and illustrious friends , and even the queen herself , into a most perilous condition , I can have no question , from the known intimacy which she held with them . Their reli gious sentiments conld not ba unknown to her ; and there can be no doubt but that she was admitted to their secret devotional meetings . Of this the chancellor Wriothesly and Gardiner were sensible , and , therefore , resolved to gain from our heroine b y torture , that information respecting her acquaintance which they could not obtain by craft and persuasion .
It is easier to conceive than express the terrible apprehensions that must necessarily have possessed the minds of those noble and pious ladies her patrons , . at the time when she was under the bloody hands of her vengeful tormentors . Could they conceive that it was possible for a delicate female , in the bloom of life , and whose health was at the same time declining , to bear up under a torture , agonizino- to the most extreme of
degree pain ? Her own account of the treatment she received is so well expressed , that it would be unjust to give it in any other words : " On Tuesday I was sent from Newgate to the , sign of the Crown , ' ' ivhere Mr . Rich and the Bishop of London , with all their power " and flattering words , went about to persuade me from Godbut I did
; " not esteem their glossing pretences . Then came there to me Ni" cholas Shaxton , and counselled me to recant as he had done . I said "to him that it had been good for him never to have been born , with " many other like words . - Then Mr . Rich sent me to the Tower .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life Of Mrs. Anne Ayscough, Or Askew.
" that have I shut up in my heart : and thus briefly I end for lack " of learning . ANNE ASKEW . " This free and expressive declaration appears to have been inclosed in the following to the chancellor . " The Lord God , by whom all creatures have their being , bless yon " with the light of his knowled ge . Amen .
- " M y duty to your lordshi p remembered , & c . It mi ght please " you to accept this my bold suit , as the suit of one which upon due " consideration is moved to the same , and hopeth to obtain . My " request to your lordship is only , that it may please , the same to be " a mean for me to the king ' s majesty , that his grace may be cer" tified of these few lines which I have written concerning belief
my ; " ivhich , when it shall be truly conferred with the hard judo-ment " given me for the same , I think his grace shall well perceive me to " be wayed in an uneven pair of balance . But I remit my matter and " cause to Almighty God ,-which rightly judgeth all secrets . And " thus I commend your lordshi p to the governance of him , and fel" lowship of all saints . Amen .
" By-your handmaid , ANNE ASKEW . " Soon after her condemnation the inhuman ministers of that sanguinary monarch removed her from Newgate , for the purpose of extorting from her , by the excruciating pains of the rack , a confession that mi ght tend to criminate some of the ladies of the court , who were more than suspected of favouring the protestant cause . That it inher to have
was . power brought her great and illustrious friends , and even the queen herself , into a most perilous condition , I can have no question , from the known intimacy which she held with them . Their reli gious sentiments conld not ba unknown to her ; and there can be no doubt but that she was admitted to their secret devotional meetings . Of this the chancellor Wriothesly and Gardiner were sensible , and , therefore , resolved to gain from our heroine b y torture , that information respecting her acquaintance which they could not obtain by craft and persuasion .
It is easier to conceive than express the terrible apprehensions that must necessarily have possessed the minds of those noble and pious ladies her patrons , . at the time when she was under the bloody hands of her vengeful tormentors . Could they conceive that it was possible for a delicate female , in the bloom of life , and whose health was at the same time declining , to bear up under a torture , agonizino- to the most extreme of
degree pain ? Her own account of the treatment she received is so well expressed , that it would be unjust to give it in any other words : " On Tuesday I was sent from Newgate to the , sign of the Crown , ' ' ivhere Mr . Rich and the Bishop of London , with all their power " and flattering words , went about to persuade me from Godbut I did
; " not esteem their glossing pretences . Then came there to me Ni" cholas Shaxton , and counselled me to recant as he had done . I said "to him that it had been good for him never to have been born , with " many other like words . - Then Mr . Rich sent me to the Tower .